Campground improvement grant moves forward

LAKE ELSINORE -- Officials with a state agency said Monday thatthey plan on recommending approval of Phase 1 of amultimillion-dollar project for major renovations to the LakeElsinore Campground & Recreation area, improvements that maycome as soon as 2005.

The California Department of Boating and Waterways commission isslated to vote on the project Nov. 14. An official with the agencysaid Monday that he plans on recommending approval for the first$800,000 installment on the project, but approval for funding theentire $4 million-plus cost of the improvements remains a questionmark.

The proposal calls in part for making the boat launch ramps 15feet higher than the current ramps, so that when the lake risesduring heavy rainy seasons, fishermen and boaters will still beable to get their boats in the water.

The ramps are open now but were closed down for much of the1990s because the lake rose to more than 1,240 feet above sea level, leaving the ramps submerged, city officials said. Currently, theramps can be used only when lake levels are between 1,232 feet and1,240 feet above sea level. The lake’s surface is now at 1,236 feetabove sea level, according to Elsinore Valley Municipal WaterDistrict.

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The project would also include the construction of 288car-and-boat-trailer parking spaces, restrooms, a fish-cleaningstation, docks, signs and a boat-cleaning area.

City Manager Dick Watenpaugh said that receiving the grant wouldbe another important step in the city’s ongoing efforts to realizethe full potential of Lake Elsinore as a tourist destination.

“After all these years, the pieces are falling into place, andthat gives us the basis to really begin to market the lake as a(tourist destination) point,” he said.

A Boating and Waterways official said Monday that while staffwill recommend the approval of the first $817,000 parcel, theagency is still crunching its budget numbers for the coming year,and it remains to be seen whether the commission will approve theentire project.

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“At this point, I don’t know what our funding availability willbe in 2004-05,” said Harold Flood, who supervises the agency’splanning unit.

The city applied for the grant with the state in March 2002. Thegrant funding is available through a Boating and Waterways localassistance program that aids cities, counties, districts and otheragencies in the development of boat-launching facilities.

Flood said his agency could either approve the project asproposed -- although Boating and Waterways engineers have peggedits cost at closer to $7 million than $4 million, he said -- orrecommend the city scale back its plans and come up with somethingmore affordable.

“We are going to recommend that a project be built there,” Floodsaid. “We think it is doable, but ultimately it comes down towhether we will have the money to finish the project as originallyconceived.”